Iraq War is wrong: Former Iraq hostages

Two Japanese journalists who were taken captive in April in Iraq appeared at separate public assemblies on May 15 and expressed their objection to Japan's deployment of the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq.

Speaking to about 200 people at an assembly sponsored by the Japan Peace Committee in Tokyo, freelance journalist Yasuda Junpei, 30, said he was treated respectfully by the Iraqi group.

He said that he was released unharmed after explaining to the group that he had come to Iraq to let the Japanese people know about the tragic situation facing the Iraqis, that he felt the war is wrong, and that it's wrong to regard all Japanese as enemies.

"The group was angry about the SDF deployment in their country. I think the Japanese history of pacifism that has nurtured pro-Japanese sentiments among the Iraqi people may have been a major factor in my release," he said, indicating that the war renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution has won the respect of the Iraqi people.

Photojournalist Koriyama Soichiro, 32, spoke to about 500 participants at the Constitution Festival held in Tokyo.

Koriyama expressed his gratitude to all those who have worked in opposition to the war for their efforts to rescue him and emphasized that his responsibility as a journalist is to tell the public what he witnessed in Iraq.

"There can't be humanitarian support with arms. The SDF that are there to support the U.S. occupation of Iraq are not welcomed," Koriyama added. (end)